“I knew that was your goddamn bowl cut!” Yes! Will Byers remains in possession of his bowl cut, much like another boy of a similar age with a bowl cut who loses his mind to a hive mind…! In relation to costume and styling, so far the expectations are being fulfilled and part 1 is holding up to previous seasons, which is impressive considering the actors are arguably barely passing as supposed 17 year olds.
The final season part 1 was the result of an incredibly high budget supported by product placement and spent on flashback scenes from previous seasons of Hopper’s daughter. Despite the unforgiving advertisements, my favourite scenes included those concerned with Will and Mike; Byler is still haunting the Mileven fans. While Mike and Will have plagued the narrative of internalised homophobia since season 1, the Will and Robin scene addresses this through a vulnerable discussion about honesty with oneself and sexuality. The scene is then voiced over as Will gains his powers to save Mike as a black and white display of Will coming to terms with himself, while decentralising Mike from his own struggles with sexuality. Although Stranger Things has always had a grasp on contextually difficult topics, such as homophobia and the late 80’s parenting choices, this was made abundantly clear in Holly’s relationship with Henry or ‘Mr. Whatsit’.
In other areas, the discourse of Jancy or Stancy proves, sadly, that Nancy is ruthlessly subjected to the discourse of who she is shipped with rather than her own growth as a character. In my opinion, one of the two will die in the coming episodes. As for newer characters, like Derek, character development has never been so strong. Stranger Things season 5 part 1 is definitely worth watching, most people watching are die-hard fans anyway, but as an overall finale to this long-lasting show, this season will never amount to Stranger Things season 1.
